The Painful Birth of Democracy

Image via Wikipedia

I’m going to start out up front by saying I’m not an expert in political theory in any way shape or form. Having said that, I’ve travelled all over the world and seen and experienced many different cultures. I’ve watched and read the news from multiple sources on a daily basis and it seems to me entirely possible that what’s happening in Egypt today, Tunisia just recently, and perhaps some other Arab states in the near future, is the birth of real, genuine democracy for these countries.

Australia’s Day

Image via Wikipedia

On this day in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed the First Fleet in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) and founded the colony of Sydney. It is upon this foundation that we celebrate Australia Day today.

More than 700 convicts were included in the Fleet, along with sailors and soldiers  – and today, it’s even a little bit cool to trace your family back to a convict settler. There’s no doubt that those who survived those early years were incredibly hardy, determined and resourceful people. But for me in particular, I find the story of the women founders of this country to be quite amazing.

2010 in Review

A big thank you to all those who have supported this blog during its first hectic but exciting year. There’s lots more to come, so I hope you can stick around and keep sending in all those great comments. Have a wonderful 2011!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2010. That’s about 5 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 41 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 38 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 5mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was August 16th with 70 views. The most popular post that day was Open Letter to Julia Gillard.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, huffingtonpost.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, slashingtongue.com, and meetup.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for invictus letter, nelson mandela letter to invictus, open email letter, letter from invictus, and mandela letter invictus.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Open Letter to Julia Gillard August 2010
2 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

2

Vaccination Battle Takes a Blow July 2010
5 comments

3

Signs From The Gods June 2010
4 comments

4

About April 2010

5

God of Love, Man of Ignorance August 2010
8 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

Freedom Of…

Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr

There’s nothing like a good public scandal to polarise opinion. And any scandal that involves international politics is right up there. I’m talking, of course, about Wikileaks and its erstwhile founder, Julian Assange who is currently in prison for, apparently, sleeping with the wrong girl. At least, that’s what the story appears to be about. But it also appears to be about political arm-twisting, loss of face, political laziness, and a sudden, burning need to not only shut the gate after the horse has bolted, but to go out, chop down the tree, saw the wood, throw on some hinges and build the gate from scratch.

So, What Do You Think?

Image by Rusty Stewart via Flickr

I know this is going to sound odd and a little strange – but I love voting. I don’t love elections – god, how much more boring could they be? – but I do love voting. Now, I admit that my love of voting is relatively recent. It was about ten years ago when I stepped into a polling booth, picked up a pencil and paused to take the moment in. No, I wasn’t on some sort of drug, nor was I dazed from a recent knock on the head. At least, not the kind you’re thinking of.

Sheer Blasphemy

Image by Barbara.Doduk via Flickr

Here, in the West, we like to have our opinions. Some of us even go to the extreme and express those opinions in, of all things, a blog! (Ahem) Now, we may argue and berate from time to time. And we’ve all called our opponent an idiot – well, okay, I’ll admit to it even if you won’t. There have, I know, even been occasions when a difference of opinion leads to a difference in a right and left cross. But in the end, when it’s all done and dusted, we know it’s just a difference of opinion. We may wish our opponent would shut the %$&! up, but it’s not the end of the world if we let him hang onto his stupid beliefs.

Alternatively, you could live in a country like Pakistan, where Asia Bibi has been sentenced to death for blasphemy.

How it’s getting better

In recent weeks, the tragic suicides of a number of teenagers due to bullying has really raised public awareness of this vile and insidious behaviour. Bullying in any form is unacceptable – but those victims who suffer bullying because of their sexuality, get a double dose. Not only do their peers attack them, physically and mentally, but some sections of society – mostly religious – see nothing wrong with persecuting children because of their (sometimes only perceived) sexuality.